As a little kid in school Matt finished his school work before everyone else. So he threw paper wads.

In high school he still finished work fast, got bored, and kept busy with extracurricular activities. He ran the auditorium for the school assemblies and shows. Was on the debate team and liked to go to debate tournaments out of town. Played sports but wasn’t very good at them.

He went to college in the summer semester right after high school. That’s a good idea – you can get 12 hours in 6 weeks. To get through faster, a lot of the time he just hit the books and didn’t party. Well, he did party after exams and before classes started again.

During the semester he took as many hours as the university would let him. Got As so they let him take more each semester. Did summer schools. Got his degree in three years.

Does he have regrets that he didn’t have much fun? Sure. And, he really doesn’t know much about how to relax and play.

He ranks higher than 99% of us in Autonomy, Energy Level, Sexuality, and Harmony. He owns his own business so he makes all of his business decisions (Autonomy) and works harder than 99% of us (Energy Level).

This is really important for his significant other to know: He is so high in Sexuality that having a compatible partner is critical to his happiness and success. He simply must have Harmony (Aesthetic Value) in this relationship.

Every couple has differences of opinion. His Harmony score shows that he really wants to manage these differences. He and his partner can learn strategies to honor these differences and have their best relationship.

Matt sets goals and then intentionally uses his personality strengths to reach them. He is also high in Dominance, Optimism, Restraint/Seriousness, Endurance and Achievement. These strengths paint a picture of how Matt succeeds. He must be the one to make the decisions (ranks in Dominance higher than 90% of us). His extreme Optimism (higher than 95% of us) energizes people, so they usually agree to what he suggests. He is very focused (Achievement (at 90%), so when he makes a promise to a client he does what he says he will do asap.

What Helps Him Make Wise Decisions?

His strengths in Restraint/Seriousness and Endurance. Like a chess player, he thinks very carefully about the consequences of each decision and action before he does anything (Restraint/Seriousness 75%). He never gives up (Endurance 80%) until he does accomplish what he sets out to do.

Matt owns a medical supply business. How did he get there?

He gets a job in hospital administration. Soon he learns that medical supply firms charge hospitals and doctors way too much for medical supplies and equipment. Doctors focus on how to take care of the patient. They don’t analyze the cost of medical supplies and equipment. Matt does. The gap between what he can buy them for and what he can sell them to the hospital and doctors for is so huge that he can cut it, give them a much better price than the medical supply firms they use now charge, and still make a nice profit.

At night Matt goes to the Small Business Administration and takes a course in how to write a business plan. Then he takes a course in how to get funding for a business. SBA also has a mentor who had a company that sold medical supplies and equipment who advises him. Matt wants to know:

1. Can he buy medical supplies and equipment and sell them to his hospital at a better price than they are paying now and make a reasonable profit?

2. Will his hospital give him a contract for a sizeable amount of supplies?

3. If the hospital is happy with his service and the medical supplies and equipment he sells them will it give him a reference?

4. Can he take this contract to investors and get reasonable terms on funding to buy the product and equipment inventory?

He gets a “Yes” on all four – eventually. He starts his business. That was about two years ago. His business is doing well.

Sure. His high need for Dominance (75%) and Aggression (75%) possibly hurt his relationship with a significant other. But it doesn’t have to. Remember, he needs Harmony (Aesthetic Value at 99%) more than he needs to be dominant or aggressive. He could ask a girlfriend, “Am I being too dominant or aggressive for you?”

Ever since Linda was a little girl she has always, somehow, known exactly what she wanted. When she was 5 her mother took her shopping for shoes. She saw some red shoes that she just had to have. The shoes didn’t go with any of the other clothes that her mother had bought for her. Still, she wanted the red shoes.

She got the red shoes. Then whenever Linda and her mother went shopping for clothes and found a dress that they both liked Linda would say, “Mommy, I like this dress. But it is not red, it’s blue. Can we get some blue shoes, too?”

They did..

Twenty years later a friend asked Linda’s mother, “Has Linda always known exactly what she wants?” As you look at your personality strengths you, too, will recall how your personality strengths have been active across the course of your life. You probably just never thought about that before.

Linda is the fourth child in her family. Ok. So she pushed herself to make good grades. She was a National Merit Scholar. Had enough money from working as a waitress to start college the summer after high school. Then she got a job on campus in the fall.

She is high in Sexuality and Social Boldness. Her Sexuality at 99% (same as Matt’s) tells us that she has just as high a need for a good relationship. With Social Boldness at 98%, if she had seen him first, she might have stepped on his toes (so she could apologize), or done something, to meet him – who knows.

Do Linda’s personality strengths work together, too?

Sure. She is high in Economic Value, Dominance, and Achievement. She sets goals and then intentionally uses her personality strengths to accomplish them. Her work takes a high a percentage of her time. Her strong drive for Economic Value (higher than for 88% of us), Dominance (higher than 70%), and Achievement (higher than 75%) makes her really valuable to her hospital. She accomplishes what she sets out to do – and/ or what they tell her to do.

Look at how these strengths help her in her personal life. And yet she has Nurturance (82%) and Traditional Female View (80%) strengths. If a guy really needs nurturing with Linda he gets it.

Three of her strengths as she uses them together. Restraint/Seriousness (at 65%) has her thinking through the long term consequences of options before she takes a first step. Over time she can use her strength in Change at 84% to juggle her career and family life.

If she does not want to keep working for someone else: Autonomy (75%) suggests that she could probably start her own business. Her savings could help her get a business loan.

She got through college in three years – just like Matt did. How many people do that?

No matter what the economy does, people will always need health care. So she got a business management degree and works as a hospital administrator.

Do Linda and Matt Meet?

Actually they do. After he graduates from college and gets a job, Matt has a Party Hardy Year. Yes, indeed, life is fun at last. Then he starts his own business. Is he thinking of marrying and settling down? Wasn’t until he met Linda. If he were to get married…

If you want to print out the Basic PSA Worksheet as a Word document and fill it in: Go to the Home Page – then Sign Up for Testing – then PSA Worksheet. Then go to the Home Page – Case Studies – Personal Goals – and “Select a Life Partner.